Dueling in Love
by Testing123456
Summary: When Yuma hosts a second Sports Duel Tournament, Rio sees her chance to explore her feelings for him. But what would a tournament be without competition? [Sequel to "Rivalry in Love."]
1. Chapter 1

"Rise and shine, Rio!" Ryouga's loud and rather annoying voice cut through the house. "If you don't, we're going to be late!"

I grunted into my pillow, irritated. I'd already been awake, enjoying that lull right after getting up where daydreams felt so warm and fuzzy. Ryouga just had to go and ruin it, of course.

I sat up in my bed slowly, putting a hand over my eyes to block out the bright morning sun. It was a nice day out. A perfect day for what we had planned.

My door opened and I turned to see Ryouga leaning against the doorframe, a smug look on his face. "To be honest, I don't really care about being late. Or even going at all. Only thing is, I don't want you to miss any precious moments with your _boyfriend_."

I blushed against my will, and Ryouga laughed cockily. With lightning speed, I pulled up a pillow and hurled it towards him. With reflexes borne of years of such squabbling, he shut the door just in time for the pillow to hit the doorframe and fall to the ground harmlessly. I heard him continue to laugh as he retreated down the hallway.

I sighed and finally decided to get off the bed. I stretched, yawning, and checked the clock.

Today was the day of our second Sports Duel Tournament among friends. Ryouga, as usual, was confident he could thrash everyone at the tournament and - like last time - was not too interested in participating. He'd decided to come in order to have a field day doing stuff like he'd just done – namely, teasing me.

Hm, we were supposed to meet near the school grounds at 10 for the tournament. It was around 9, which was ample time to get myself ready.

Once I'd brushed and showered, I pulled out a bag and stuffed it with as many types of attire as possible. Beach, swim, sport, you name it, I packed it. From my experience at the last sports duel tournament, I knew I had to be ready for anything.

I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked downstairs to meet Ryouga for breakfast. He'd already started eating, absently shoving cereal in his mouth while watching some kind of rock concert on TV. That guy and his guitars…

I got myself some cereal and was about to fall into my own thoughts when Ryouga suddenly spoke up.

"You ready?"

I stiffened. It sounded like a serious enough question, but I knew Ryouga himself didn't think of the tournament all too seriously. Likely, he was going to get me to give a serious answer and make fun of me for it.

"What do you mean?" I played dumb.

Ryouga rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rio. Ever since we went over to his house you haven't been able to stop thinking about him. Today could be your chance to duel with him, and you know what that means."

No skirting it now. I moved my spoon around in my cereal mechanically, knowing Ryouga was right.

That _boyfriend_ he'd teased me about? He'd been referring to Yuma.

And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Ever since we'd gone over to Yuma's house and a game of Truth and Dare had almost led to us to, well, um, kiss… I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. It didn't help that I saw him every day at school and he made a point to acknowledge me and be friendly. It especially didn't help that Yuma was good friends with Ryouga already (although Ryouga would never admit it), which caused me to like him off the bat, not to mention spend a lot of time with him due to being around Ryouga.

And Ryouga was also right – unfortunately, but as usual – about the last part. I knew exactly what being able to duel with Yuma today meant.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. In Yuma's case, however, the way to his heart was through dueling.

Well… To be honest, considering Yuma it could actually be through his stomach, but still, the point stands.

"Why are you smiling?"

Darn it. I quickly wiped the absentminded grin off my face, trying to clear my head. See? This is what Yuma had been doing to me for a while now.

Ryouga rolled his eyes again. "That's sick, you know?" He shook his head. "Daydreaming about that loser. Sick."

Ryouga stood up and put his bowl in the sink, turning his face away from me. I grinned to myself. As harsh as his words sounded, they were all bark.

I knew Ryouga approved of Yuma.

How? Because, firstly, Ryouga hadn't yet tried to punch Yuma's face in. And secondly, because Yuma was one of the few people who had ever bested Ryouga in a duel. It was one of my brother's few and fierce sentiments that a person's dueling prowess was a reflection of the strength of their character. I knew for a fact that Ryouga would never state the implication of those two facts out loud, but I knew what it was for myself, which was enough.

Ryouga respected Yuma.

I finished my breakfast, picked up my pack, and joined Ryouga on his motorcycle.

"So? You still haven't answered my question." Ryouga said, revving the engine but not moving.

"Huh? What question?"

"Are you ready?"

I smiled. I didn't know why he had to be so callous most of the time, but whatever the reason, this was what mattered. When it came down to it, Ryouga always supported me.

I thought genuinely about his question. Yuma would be there, but so would Kotori, and Cat as well – both of whom had expressed a rivalry with me. To be honest, I wasn't completely sure of the exact nature or strength of my feelings, or how they stacked up to the feelings of those two. But there was one thing I did know.

If there was any way to resolve these feelings, it was through dueling.

So the question was, was I ready to duel?

I grinned. "Of course."

Ryouga grunted, speeding the motorcycle onto the main road. It was a short ride to the school grounds. On the way, I reviewed my deck and strategies.

Honestly, the most helpful change this time around was that Girag wouldn't be scoring this one. All girl teams getting extra points? Talk about a dirty ref.

When we pulled up onto the grounds, I found that the other 6 competitors were already there. Just like last time, they were Yuma, Kotori, Cat, Tetsuo-kun, Tokunosuke-kun, and their class rep Takashi-kun. Shingetsu-kun was also present to be the MC and ref.

I slung my pack over my shoulder casually, making my way over with Ryouga. They all waved in greeting, and I waved back. (Ryouga didn't. Back to icy mode, I guess.) As I got close, Kotori winked at me, and Cat, erm, purred… I think.

I looked sidelong at Yuma, who seemed excited as ever. He was dressed in his casual attire: the red vest with buckles and the fiery bell bottom pants. He suddenly caught my eyes grazing over him and smiled. I tried my best to act nonchalant. Luckily, he didn't call me out on it.

"Hey, guys! What kept you so long?" he asked.

Ryouga snorted. "Ms. Princess over here. Wouldn't get out of bed, and after she did she just daydreamed about – GAH!"

I stomped on Ryouga's foot as discreetly as possible to stop him from spoiling everything. He looked at me angrily and I met his gaze, trying to send him the message silently.

"Um, ok…" Yuma said, relieving the awkwardness quickly. "Anyway, let's get started! Shingetsu, pick the teams!"

Shingetsu-kun produced a microphone seemingly out of nowhere and began announcing. "Alright, hello everyone and welcome to Heartland's second Sports Duel Tournament!"

We all clapped good-naturedly – except for Ryouga, that is. I guess it was a little cheesy, but come on, nothing wrong with some spirit.

"Now, teams of two will face off in various sports duels, each themed by a different sport. Teams will tag duel while playing the specified sport. A point goes to the winning team of each match, and at the end of the matches, the two teams with the most points will face off in the finals! Without further ado, let's pick the teams!" Shingetsu-kun fumbled around on his duel computer, probably inputting our names into a random team selector.

"Alright!" he said after a minute. "Here are the teams! Team 1: Tokunosuke-kun and the class rep!"

The two fist-bumped; they'd worked together the last time around and were obviously happy with their team.

"Team 2: Cathy-san and Tetsuo-kun!"

Cat looked a little peeved – I'm sure she wanted to be paired with Yuma. Tetsuo-kun didn't look too happy either, but the two looked at each other and shrugged. The nice thing about having a tournament with your friends was that any pairing was nice.

"Now, team 3: Shark and Kotori-san!"

Now, that would be interesting. Kotori's dueling experience was minimal, but with Ryouga paired up with her that'd still be a strong team. Kotori didn't seem ecstatic about the pairing, but she wasn't sour about it either. She looked over to Ryouga to acknowledge him, but Ryouga had his eyes closed, seemingly uncaring.

"Doesn't matter who I'm paired with. I'm going to win." He said haughtily. I felt my eyebrow twitch. Sometimes his attitude made me want to…

Wait… This left –

"And the final team! Team 4: Yuma-kun and Rio-san!"

I felt my heart beat a little faster. Yuma looked at me excitedly, running over immediately.

"Ready, Rio?" He asked, inflamed.

I grinned genuinely despite my nervousness. His excitement was infectious. "You bet. Let's win it all."

Yuma stood beside me as Shingetsu-kun spoke again. "Now, for the first match-up!" He clicked his duel computer furiously, and then looked up. "It'll be Shark and Kotori-san versus Yuma-kun and Rio-san in beach volleyball! Teams, get ready to play!"

I looked to Yuma and did a double take, sweatdropping. He and Ryouga were already locked in a fierce staring contest, silently promising to take one another down. I realized that Ryouga had expected to be bored because at the last tournament, paired up with Yuma, there was no real challenge for him. Now, though, on an opposing team from Yuma, Ryouga might actually get into it in order to beat him. I laughed to myself.

I met eyes with Kotori. She looked back at me, smirking. It wasn't cocky; it was more like challenging. I liked it. I nodded and grinned back.

It was on.

I went to the dressing room and changed quickly. Like last time, I donned some some short black bottoms and a red top that cut off before my midriff. I put on my purple duel gazer as well as my duel disk so I was all set to go. I came out of the dressing room to see Yuma waiting.

Like me, he went with his attire from last time. Simple blue shorts with red streaks on the side. It fit him nicely. My eyes moved up over his bare upper body. Not bad at all. Must be all the jump-

I mentally slapped myself. What was I doing?

Hmph, stupid hormones.

I moved my eyes to Yuma's face (where they should be). Unlike what I'd been doing, his eyes were square on my face, not wavering at all.

…Which I really should appreciate, but for some reason I felt kind of disappointed.

"So, ready to take them down?" He fingered his Emperor's Key, which he'd kept on despite taking his shirt off, and which in turn my hormones found intensely aggravating. Something about the idea of that single piece of cool metal laying against his bare -

I shook myself out of it. Right now, Yuma was counting on me to duel with him at my best. And we needed to, going up against Ryouga. I was sure Kotori wouldn't hold back, either.

"I'm ready," I shot back at him.

"Let's go, then, partner." He said casually. The way he said the word gave me good shivers, which was stupid seeing as he meant it innocuously.

"Ready to lose?" Ryouga asked coldly as Yuma and I stepped on the sand court. Kotori stood next to him, ready to go.

I grinned, about to retort. Yuma stole the words from out of my mouth. "You wish."

Shingetsu-kun was sitting in the ref's chair. "Alright, now that the trash talk is out of the way – " Yeah, right. That was like the tip of Ryouga's trash talking iceberg. "– let's get down to the duel. Are both sides ready?"

I looked at Yuma. He looked back at me intensely and pointed a finger towards the back in a silent question.

He'd take back and I'd take front? Sounded good to me. I nodded to him, and we took our places.

"We're ready!" I called.

"We've been ready for a while." Ryouga said coolly from the other side. Like Yuma, he'd taken the back. Kotori was up front, pretty close to me. We smirked at one another.

"Alright then," Shingetsu-kun called. "Begin!"

Everyone drew five cards.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 4000 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 4000 LP

"We'll take the first move!" Ryouga called, drawing a card. "I summon Big Jaws, in attack mode! I'll then equip the spell card Xyz Crown to it, which allows me to use Big Jaws as two monsters while Xyz summoning!"

Uh-oh.

Ryouga tossed the volleyball high up into the air. "I overlay the two level 3 Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Emerge from the bottom of the ocean, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!"

The two conjoined sharks, boasting 1900 attack, appeared on the field. The volleyball was rushing back down towards Ryouga now.

"With that, I place one card facedown and end my turn!" Ryouga smashed his right hand into the ball, sending it sailing over my head.

"Yuma!" I called.

"Got it!" Yuma drew a card. "My turn! I summon Achacha Archer!" I smiled, knowing what that meant.

Yuma received the ball and then passed it over to me. "Rio!"

"Yup!" I jumped up and hit the ball at Ryouga as hard as I could.

Achacha Archer had materialized on the field, its arrow on fire, burning to leave its bow. Yuma punched the air with a fist. "When Achacha Archer is summoned, you take 500 points of damage!"

Ryouga cursed, receiving the ball and passing it as quickly as possible to Kotori. "Here!"

As soon as the ball left him Achacha Archer's arrow hit him in the chest, throwing him back.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 3500 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 4000 LP

The ball was still in play, though. Kotori received it and passed it over. Yuma, meanwhile, was continuing his turn.

"Now, since you control a face-up Xyz monster, I can special summon Bite Bug!" The little critter materialized, which meant…

"Due to Bite Bug's effect, one monster you control loses 300 attack points!" Yuma hit Kotori's ball straight back to Shark.

Ryouga gritted his teeth and returned the ball, grunting. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark's attack fell to 1600 as Ryouga returned the ball in a high arc, coming for me. Hmm, both Achacha Archer and Bite Bug were level 3 monsters, so…

As the ball came over I tossed it up high and moved aside.

Yuma grinned at me and jogged in. "Thanks, Rio!" he called. I smiled back.

"I overlay the level 3 Achacha Archer and Bite Bug! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Temtempo the Percussion Djinn!" The dwarfish creature appeared with its drums, sporting 1700 attack.

Yuma jumped. "And I'm activating his effect right off the bat! By detaching one of his overlay units, he gains 500 attack and your Xyz monster loses an overlay unit!" Yuma hit the ball towards the other side.

Kotori grunted and took the edge off it, passing it to Ryouga. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark lost an overlay unit while Temtempo's attack rose to 2200. Ryouga had no choice but to hit the ball back straight to Yuma, who was ready for his next move.

"Now, Temtempo, attack! Make Shark face the music!" Yuma grinned cheekily and spiked the ball back to Ryouga hard and fast. The ball hit him square in the chest, pushing him back as Temtempo's music took Ryouga's monster down in an explosion.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 2900 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 4000 LP

Yuma pumped his fist and we high-fived. On the other side, the smoke was clearing, and it seemed Ryouga had activated his facedown card.

"My trap card, Ghost Salvage, returns a Water Xyz monster destroyed by battle, along with its Xyz material monsters, back to the field with their effects negated." Ryouga's Submersible Carrier appeared with its old 1900 attack, as well as Big Jaws with 1800 attack.

Ugh, that guy always has something up his sleeve. Kotori passed the ball under the net back to us.

Yuma served it back. "I end my turn."

On the other side of the net, Kotori drew a card. "My turn!" Kotori jerked a thumb at Big Jaws, and Ryouga nodded seriously.

Impressive. Kotori was actually working with Ryouga.

"I summon Little Fairy!" True to its name, a little fairy – attack 800 – appeared and hovered next to Kotori.

Wait… Level 3? Was she going to…?

Sure enough, Ryouga received Yuma's serve and threw it up high.

Kotori's face became serious. "I overlay the level 3 Little Fairy and Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! I'm calling out Wind-Up Zenmaines, in defense mode!" Kotori spiked the ball towards us.

A large and complex robot appeared on the field, with an imposing 2100 defense points. Not a match for Temtempo, though.

Yuma hit the ball back, making time to compliment the Xyz summon. "Nice one, Kotori! That monster's looking strong!"

Kotori found my eyes. "Thanks, Yuma! I place one card facedown and end my turn!" She returned Yuma's ball in a high arc, all the while maintaining my gaze.

She was challenging me.

The ball sailed over to Yuma, who hit it up high for me. "You're up, Rio! Go for it!"

I locked eyes with Kotori, accepting her challenge.

"You got it, Yuma! Here I go!" I drew my card as the ball arced above me.

Showtime.

* * *

Author's Note

While this story is intended as the sequel to "Rivalry in Love," it may also be read on its own. If you are interested in "Rivalry in Love," it can be found through my profile page or the general archive.

Next Update: 04/10/14, by 4:00 AM UTC (Postponed Again)


	2. Chapter 2

A rush of adrenaline washed over me as I drew my card. If I wasn't focused before, I sure was now. Dueling had that effect on me.

I scanned my cards quickly, my hands already moving to play my cards even as the dots were still connecting in my head. With Yuma's Temtempo at my back, gaining control of the duel would be a piece of cake.

"I summon Blizzard Thunderbird!" After sliding the card onto my duel disk I gave the approaching volleyball a high lob over the net. That gave me a little more time for the slightly complicated maneuver I was about to try.

No time to waste. "Due to my monster's effect, I discard 1 card from my hand. Then I can return Blizzard Thunderbird to my hand in order to summon 2 Water Winged Beast-Type monsters, 1 from my hand – as long as it's not Blizzard Thunderbird - and 1 from my Graveyard."

Kotori transferred the ball to Ryouga, squinting. "But you don't have any monsters in your Grave – Oh, wait…"

I grinned as Ryouga spiked the ball over the net and grunted. He rubbed his chest in annoyance. "That's right - the card she got to discard due to Blizzard Thunderbird's effect."

I felt my grin widen involuntarily. "Oh Ryouga, you know me so well." He scowled. Behind me, Yuma chuckled in appreciation, which spurred me on. "I summon Aurora Wing from the Graveyard, and Blizzard Falcon from my hand!"

The two level 4 monsters appeared on my field. Behind me, I heard Yuma breathe out as he hit the ball back. "Keep going, Rio!" he called.

They were all expecting an Xyz Summon, and they would get it. But first…

"I equip the Spell 'Wings of Silence' to Blizzard Falcon, which raises its attack by 300!" Blizzard Falcon's attack went up to 1800. On the other side of the field, Kotori was passing Yuma's ball to Ryouga, but she looked puzzled, obviously wondering why I'd raise the attack of a monster when it still couldn't beat any of hers, and furthermore why I'd use an Equip Spell when I was about to use the monster equipped as an Xyz material – after all, the card would go to the Graveyard when the equipped monster was used to build the Overlay Network.

Ryouga, however, looked pale. He knew exactly why I'd done it, and he was right to be scared. He unwillingly tapped the ball over the net back to us.

"When Blizzard Falcon's attack exceeds its original attack, I can activate its Effect! You take damage equal to its original attack!" Ryouga swallowed. "That's right, 1500 big ones!" With perhaps too much pleasure I spiked the ball over the net towards Ryouga. It clipped his shoulder hard, and he glared at me before he went to pick up the ball.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 4000 LP

"Nice one, Rio!" I heard Yuma call from behind me suddenly. I almost jumped; I'd become so immersed in my duel that for the first time that day he'd left my mind. But now he flashed me a thumbs up, grinning ear-to-ear, and all my thoughts came rushing back. I flashed him a smile.

"Heads-up!" Ryouga said roughly. I turned back in time to see him serve the ball. Alright, time to give them what they'd been expecting. Yuma received the ball and threw it up high.

"I overlay the level 4 Aurora Wing and Blizzard Falcon! With these two monsters, I'm building the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Ice Beast Zerofyne!" The monster appeared on the field, donned in armor made of icicles. I gave Yuma's ball a light hit over to Kotori.

With 2000 attack, Zerofyne held its own on the current field, but we could do even better. "I activate Ice Beast Zerofyne's Effect: by detaching 1 Overlay Unit, I'm negating the Effects of all of your face-up cards, and Zerofyne's getting 300 attack for every face-up card on the field." That would take care of Wind-Up Zenmaines' pesky ability and also add 900 attack points to Zerofyne for a grand total of 2900.

At the expense of feeling like Ryouga: time to rock 'n' roll.

Kotori hit the ball back straight to me, the challenge still in her eyes. Honestly, I should attack Submersible Carrier because it was in attack mode and the battle would cost her life points… But I couldn't resist the look she was giving me.

"Ice Beast Zerofyne, attack Wind-Up Zenmaines!" I spiked the ball at Kotori.

Zerofyne shot ice towards Kotori's Xyz monster just behind the ball, which was about to hit her in the stomach. With a sudden jerk though, she repositioned herself and managed to take the edge off the ball, passing it Ryouga. He in turn lobbed it up high back to her.

Uh-oh. That meant…

Sure enough, Kotori grinned victoriously. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Unity! By targeting Wind-Up Zenmaines, Unity increases my monster's defense by the defense of any other monsters on the field. Which means, thanks to Submersible Carrier Aero Shark, my monster gets 1000 additional defense points!" Zenmaines' defense went up to 3100. I watched in horror as the monster deflected Zerofyne's ice straight back to hit me.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 3800 LP

Oomph!

I'd stepped back in surprise as the holographic ice washed over me, and completely missed the ball Kotori had spiked… which had been hurtling straight toward me, and just connected squarely with my chest. I stumbled back and slipped in the sand, whirling my arms wildly.

Instead of feeling the rough sand of the ground though, soft skin pressed into my back and prevented my fall altogether. I righted myself quickly as Yuma's head came over my shoulder. "You ok, Rio?" he asked concernedly.

Yuma's warm hands had snaked around my waist to prevent my fall. I could feel his fingertips pressing into the bare skin near my belly button, the tightness of his grip indicative of his caring for my well-being. Behind me the skin of his chest and abs pressed into my back. Just below the cloth of my cut off top the metal of his key created a chilly vortex in my skin around which the rest of his warmth seemed to swirl.

I shivered.

"I – I'm fine, thanks." I managed.

Yuma grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. I fought down a blush as he went to grab the ball. As I absently moved my hand over my belly where Yuma's hands had been a moment before, I caught Ryouga staring at me pointedly from across the net. I turned my head away, not ready to deal with him at the moment. That put me in the line of sight of Kotori. She wasn't looking my way, but by her expression I could see that, despite having just one-upped me, she seemed to be upset.

I could imagine why.

Yuma served the ball and I snapped back to attention. "I end my turn by placing one card facedown." It might be a bad idea to leave myself with only 2 cards in my hand, but if this worked out…

The end of my turn brought Zenmaines' defense back to 2100 while the duel came full circle back to Ryouga. He drew a card, passing the ball back. "I sacrifice Submersible Carrier Aero Shark in order to tribute summon Panther Shark."

I set the ball up for Yuma, who hit it to Kotori.

"Thanks to the Effect of Panther Shark, I can now Special Summon Eagle Shark from my hand."

Two level fives… Kotori gave the ball a high arc, and Ryouga swept his arm back in preparation. "I Overlay the level 5 Panther Shark and Eagle Shark. With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network! I Xyz Summon Shark Fortress!" Ryouga spiked the volleyball long. Behind me, I heard Yuma grunt as he took the edge off of it, and I spun in time to give him an assist, sending the ball to Kotori.

True to its name, a large, imposing fortress in the likeness of a shark now dominated the field, with 2400 attack. Zerofyne was still sporting 2900 attack, so I wasn't in trouble –

"I activate the Spell Aqua Jet!" Well, scratch that. "Thanks to its effect, Shark Fortress gains 1000 attack." Shark Fortress' attack went up to 3400. "I then detach an Overlay Unit from Shark Fortress to activate its Effect: it gets to attack twice this turn." Ryouga smirked as Kotori tossed ball in an arc over to him.

I gulped. "Now," he continued, "let's start by teaching my upstart sister a little lesson." I stuck my tongue out at him, but he went on, not fazed in the slightest. "Shark Fortress, attack Ice Beast Zerofyne!" He spiked the ball at me.

With Shark Fortress' attack in my face, I couldn't keep track of the ball. I lashed at it wildly, managing to clip it as Ice Beast Zerofyne was destroyed above me.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 1400 LP

Yuma &amp; Me: 3300 LP

The clip I'd managed gave the ball no height boost, and it sputtered toward the ground. Just then though, Yuma dove across the sand quickly with his arms outstretched; his body hit the ground roughly but his hands made contact with the ball, sending it just over the net. I rushed to his side quickly to help him up.

"You ok, Yuma?" I asked concernedly, assisting him at the shoulder.

He turned his face and flashed me a grin. As he rose, though, I could clearly see bright red streaks across his chest and abdomen where the coarse sand had bitten into his body. I gasped lightly but didn't get to say anything before Ryouga's voice cut across the court.

"Nice save, Yuma, but think you can do it again?" Kotori's expression showed concern for Yuma, but she passed Yuma's ball to the waiting Ryouga nonetheless. "After all, have you forgotten about Shark Fortress' second attack?"

Beside me, Yuma gritted his teeth.

Wait… That's it! My eyes flashed to my face down card. "Yuma, activate Temtempo's Effect!" I called quickly. Across the field, Ryouga arm was coming through for his spike.

Yuma didn't even hesitate. "I activate the Effect of Temtempo the Percussion Djinn! By detaching one of my monster's Overlay Units, Shark Fortress loses one of its Overlay Units, and Temtempo gains 500 attack!" Temtempo's attack rose to 2700.

Ryouga's arm had already come through the spike; the ball was hurtling towards Yuma quickly. Ryouga smirked self-assuredly. "Fell a little hard there, Yuma? Do the math – Temtempo is still no match for Shark Fortress!"

"You sure about that?" With a well-time leap I jumped in front of Yuma and deflected the volleyball up high. "I activate my facedown Quick-Play Spell, Freezing Point! Thanks to its effect, I can target an Xyz monster with no Overlay Units, and its attack falls to 0!"

Across the court, Ryouga blanched. Kotori spoke up, shocked. "So the real reason for activating Temtempo's effect… was to get rid of Shark Fortress' last Overlay Unit?"

I smirked. "Yuma, take it away!"

"Gladly!" He ran up beside me. "Temtempo, retaliate and show Shark Fortress who's boss!" As Temtempo sounded its drums he jumped up mightily, body arced perfectly to maximize power into his hand. "Kattobingu da, ore!" With a powerful swing he drove the volleyball back to Ryouga.

An explosion rocked the other side of the field as Temtempo's music demolished Shark Fortress; simultaneously, Yuma's ball struck a still surprised Ryouga straight in his chest, causing him to stumble and fall back into the sand. A stunned Kotori stood by, mouth agape.

Ryouga &amp; Kotori: 0 LP

**Yuma &amp; Me: 3300 LP**

I stood still for a second, unable to believe it. I'd known what I was doing in the heat of the moment, but to think it would actually work out… It may not count as a one-on-one duel, but this was still the first time I'd ever even remotely taken Ryouga down.

Yuma ran up to me, beaming, and with a hand held high over his head. I gave him a resounding high five. "That was a great play at the end, Rio," he said, his body still trembling with genuine excitement from the duel.

I locked my fingers behind my back shyly. "Thanks, Yuma. But it couldn't have worked without your help."

He smiled again. "We make a good team, don't we, Rio?"

I blushed. Well, I sure thought so.

Yuma absentmindedly ran his hand over his bare stomach, and my attention snapped to the red scars on it. Without thinking I grabbed his hand, worried. "Yuma, we need to get you to the nurse. Those marks look bad, and they could get infected." I led him towards the school.

Yuma looked down towards the marks. "What, these? They're no big deal."

I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. He grumbled but didn't fight as I continued leading him towards the school. I was partly glad but partly worried. If he gave up so easily, it probably meant the bruises were aching enough that he thought a visit to the nurse was worthwhile.

Before he gave in completely he turned slightly and yelled over his shoulder. "Shingetsu, we'll be right back! Shark and Kotori, that was a great duel!"

I tuned as well and glanced at Kotori. She was waiting for it, and she nodded slightly at me in recognition of my win. I grinned back and then turned around towards the school.

Using our IDs we got into the school, but then it hit me that we were here on a holiday, so the nurse wouldn't actually be there.

And just when I'd been feeling like a brilliant strategist…

Nonetheless I led Yuma to the nurse's office where over-the-counter medicine and supplies were accessible to all students. Given my childhood with Ryouga I'd had to deal with cuts and scrapes aplenty, and I knew how to handle them.

"Sit down on the bench there, Yuma," I commanded as we walked into the nurse's office.

"Alright, nurse," Yuma replied playfully. I flushed, trying not to let my mind do too much with what he meant as an innocuous comment. "Do you actually know how to use the stuff in here?" he asked seriously now.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, for the most part. When I was little, Ryouga and I used to wrestle a lot and do other dangerous stuff that our parents didn't want us doing. So we kind of learned to self-treat ourselves to get out of having to show our injuries to our parents, which would have gotten us in trouble." I moved to the cabinets to gather some materials.

Behind me I could hear Yuma's legs swinging against the table. "Wow, that's impressive," he said, and I could feel his eyes following my back curiously as I searched for the appropriate supplies.

I found a soft towel quickly, and wet it in cool water from the sink. I wrung it out and handed it to Yuma, motioning to his sand burn. "Just wipe this gently across the burn for starters."

Yuma took the towel and stared at it, frowning. He touched it to his body softly at first, but then became impatient; he started pushing it against the burn and wiping his body roughly to just get it over with. I could see him cringe in pain as he did so. I shook my head and stopped his hand with my own. He stared as I took the towel from him.

"Here, let me."

He put his hand to the side to give me room. I moved flush against the table between his legs to get more access. Then I placed the soft cloth of the towel against his chest and wiped slowly and methodically across, working my way down.

Yuma hummed. "Mm, the towel's cool. That feels nice, Rio."

I merely nodded, trying to keep the redness out of my face. Here I was supposed to be treating him, and I just couldn't get out of my head the fact that my face was inches from his bare chest. I moved his metal key aside momentarily as I wiped underneath it, and then let it go, watching it fall back against his chest in a trance.

"Rio?"

"Hmm?" I snapped out of it.

"I think you got all of it."

I looked down at my hand, which had reached the bottom of his abdomen; the towel rested at the hem of his shorts now. I pulled away, blushing madly.

"S-Sorry!" I almost shouted.

He shrugged. "No problem. What's next?"

I cleared my head and focused on the task at hand. Now that I'd cleaned the injury all I needed to do was ensure it didn't get infected and then cover it up. I grabbed some Neosporin and gauze from the cabinet.

I handed the Neosporin to Yuma first. "Alright, you want to put a light coating of this over your burn. It's essentially an antibiotic that'll help speed your healing, too."

Yuma reached for it and then withdrew his hand, looking at me. "Can you just do it? You're much better at this than me."

What? No way.

Wiping him with a towel? Fine. Rubbing ointment on him? Not going to happen.

Yuma looked into my eyes and smiled.

"Sure," I said.

Ugghhh…

I uncapped the bottle and squeezed a moderate amount onto my fingers. Before I could touch him, however, he caught my hand.

"Wait," he said, brow furrowed. "Antibiotic… Isn't that something that fights germs?"

I nodded.

He grabbed my wrist now, looking at my fingers. "Then isn't it dangerous for you to do this? What if the germs from the cut get onto you and you get sick?"

I would have been slain by his sweetness if I weren't slightly miffed that he'd made me agree to this in the first place. All the same I couldn't help a smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't have any cuts on my hands and I'll wash right afterwards, so it's ok."

Yuma's made an 'O' with his mouth in understanding, and then let go of my wrist, this time swinging his key around his neck so it wasn't in the way.

I suppressed a shiver as I touched my fingertips, bathed in lotion, to his chest. His skin was soft but firm, and touching him brought back memories of the time we'd nearly kissed. I suppressed the hurricane of emotions that nearly rose up with the memory.

I tried to make myself spread the lotion mechanically to circumvent my raging emotions. I watched in a trance as my fingers rubbed in methodical circles across and down his chest. The white film slowly covered more and more of his skin.

"Rio, you're a great nurse, but you really need to figure out where my stomach ends."

I snapped out of my trance and recoiled. Sure enough, I'd covered his entire chest and abdomen in the ointment and had begun to smear it on the hem of his shorts when he'd stopped me. I couldn't stop the rush of blood to my face. I couldn't even manage an apology.

"What's this?" Yuma held up the gauze.

Oh, no… I had to do the gauze now?

I reached for it but he seemed to figure out what it was for. He waved me away. "Nah, I think I know what it's for, actually. You go ahead and wash your hands before you get sick." Biting his tongue in intense focus, he began unwrapping the white cloth to wrap it around himself.

I expected a rush of relief but instead felt a wave of disappointment. Stupid hormones.

I washed my hands in ice cold water to cool myself down. Wiping my hands quickly I turned back to see Yuma's handiwork.

…Or rather, the lack thereof. He'd rolled the gauze around himself with no method whatsoever, so it was bunched in some places and didn't cover others. He grinned at me and gave me two thumbs up. "Good?" he asked.

I giggled, shaking my head. I grabbed the roll and reached around him, quickly covering up the bare spots and straightening out the rough spots. Now, to tie it off.

I leant further into him to get my hands behind his back and tuck the gauze in such a way that it wouldn't come out. For some reason it wouldn't stay; frustrated, I reached around further and pushed it in harder until it was finally secured.

"Rio, your hair is so soft."

I froze, becoming aware of myself. In my frustration I'd pushed into him until my right cheek was flush on his right shoulder, drowning his jaw in my locks. Before I could pull away I heard him sniff.

"Mm, smells good, too."

I shivered at his breath on my ear. It didn't help that our bodies were completely touching, and I was still in my beach volleyball outfit, which meant a lot of our skin was touching, too. For a second I just let myself lean into his warmth, allowing my cheek to rest heavily on his shoulder. I closed my eyes.

He didn't say or do anything for the next few moments, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. Was it possible he liked this, too? That he was thinking about me like I was thinking about him?

I opened my eyes to find out, but the first thing they saw from my vantage point off his shoulder was a figure standing in the door. Purple hair and smirking eyes came into view quickly, although the nonchalant resting of the figure against the doorframe should've given it away earlier.

I jumped back nearly five feet, and then immediately regretted the lack of warmth. I hid it as best I could, which wasn't very well. "R – Ryouga. What are you doing here?"

His eyes mocked me. "Hmm… I could ask you the same question, Rio." I blushed uncontrollably. He looked at Yuma. "Next duel's about to start. Want to watch?"

"Of course!" Yuma exclaimed. I cursed. I'd never had the chance to even observe his face and now I didn't even have a guess at what'd been going through his mind a few moments ago.

But everything fell to the back of my mind as Yuma looked at me and smiled warmly. "Thanks so much for taking care of me, Rio. Ready to go?"

Well, no problem. There would be plenty of other chances. That I'd make sure of. I smiled back at him.

"Yup. Let's go."

* * *

Author's Note

Apologies for the long delay.

If you are a registered user of this site, please vote in the poll regarding this story on my profile page. If you are not registered and wish to respond on the poll question, please leave a review to that end. (Or you can do both.) The question is whether or not you would like the duels in this story to be written out, or merely have them implied with the victor stated, and then have more time with the plot development of the story. Thank you.

Next Update: 05/11/14, by 4:00 AM UTC (Postponed)


	3. Chapter 3

"Begin!" yelled Shingetsu-kun.

The second match was between the teams of Cat and Tetsuo-kun and Tokunosuke-kun and the class rep; the sport was tennis. Ryouga, Kotori, Yuma, and I were taking a breather on the sidelines.

Yuma, despite his injuries, was probably the most excited of us all. He alternatingly yelled encouragement to both teams as they began the duel. I myself was only really keeping an eye on Cat-chan, whom I considered a rival. That said the two teams seemed fairly evenly matched – it could turn out to be a good show.

Cat looked sidelong at Yuma, purring as she set her duel gazer. "Watch my Cattobingu closely, Yuma. This one's for you." She winked.

I grunted irritably. To make the matter worse, Yuma grinned and pumped his fist. "Go for it, Cat-chan!"

Sensing something, I turned my gaze just in time to catch Tetsuo-kun look away from me, his face light red.

I sighed. I knew I'd have to address it sometime, but it was still unpleasant.

See, I'm not quite as oblivious as Yuma. I've been well aware of Tetsuo-kun's crush on me since I joined his school. He'd been persistent in it, and as a person he was kind and thoughtful, just like all of Yuma's friends. But to be perfectly blunt, I just didn't feel the same way about him. I could only hope that his crush would wear off with time or that if he made a move he could take it easy when I had to break it to him.

The thought sparked a sudden realization within me.

What if my situation with Yuma was the same? What if my feelings were just as lost on him?

I stole a glance at him. Fists clenched, he was watching in breathless anticipation as the match got underway. My gut told me that the situation with Yuma was different. The first problem wasn't getting him to reciprocate my feelings, but getting him to realize they existed at all. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if he recognized the fact that there were two different genders; more likely he just lumped everyone into the category of friends… I sighed inwardly.

"I activate the effect of Tin Archduke!" Tetsuo-kun said, hitting the ball hard and fast down the doubles sideline. "By detaching 1 Xyz Material from this card, I can change Tokunosuke's facedown monster to face-up attack mode and negate its flip effect!"

Tokunosuke-kun gritted his teeth, returning Tetsuo-kun's ball just barely with his two-handed backhand. On the field, his facedown monster Porcupine Fish was changed to attack mode, and its damage-dealing effect was negated.

Tetsuo-kun smirked, winding up an explosive forehand. "Now, Tin Archduke, attack Porcupine Fish and show Tokunosuke who owns this court!" The attack connected with an explosion, depleting Tokunosuke-kun's team's life points by 2000. The tennis ball flew over the net with a vengeance right afterwards; Tokunosuke-kun swung desperately but missed.

"Nice play, Tetsuo! Keep 'em coming!" Yuma shouted from beside me.

I looked past him to Ryouga and sweatdropped. The jerk was literally sleeping. Obviously he didn't find the duel at a high enough level to keep his interest.

I shook my head and looked at Kotori, and was startled to find her looking back at me. As I met her eyes she got up and waved me back to a higher seat on the bleachers. I obliged.

We sat down three rows up, out of earshot of the boys. Kotori turned to me, hazel eyes boring into mine.

"So… Anything happen between you and Yuma in there?" she asked, looking away shyly as she finished the question.

I straightened, surprised. Kotori had come across so confident and self-assured before. Now she seemed almost insecure.

I thought about my words carefully. "Nothing happened… between us, no." I omitted that things had happened on my end, but that was probably insignificant.

Kotori let out a sigh, and then blushed as she realized that she had. "S – Sorry, I know I shouldn't pry – "

"Nah, it's fine," I leaned back and rested my elbows on the row of bleachers behind me nonchalantly. "But I don't know what you're worrying about. You have a bit of a head start over me, you know." I smiled at her humorously.

Her face flushed with color. "To be honest, that's what I thought, too. But the way you two were meshing on court," she looked at me pointedly, "made me pretty nervous."

It was my turn to blush. "Well… I wouldn't say it means much. Yuma would work well with anyone, really. Our teamwork wasn't anything too out of the ordinary." I'd meant it as a comfort to Kotori, but I realized it was actually true as I said it. I cringed with the realization that I'd really gotten nowhere.

Kotori merely stared in front and I followed her gaze. The object was Yuma: he was in signature form, standing on top of the bleachers, gesturing wildly and yelling encouragement to the players.

Kotori sighed again and rested her head back on the seats behind us heavily. "Tch. So oblivious."

I giggled, and Kotori puffed her cheeks at me in annoyance. "I'm not kidding, you know. I've been in the best friend zone for who knows how many years now. Which is still nice, but…"

"It's not what you want it to be." I finished for her. She met my eyes sharply and nodded in affirmation. "Well, at least you're really close to him. That's a start." I mentally cursed. Every time I tried to comfort her I just reminded myself how far behind I was.

But Kotori came back to a sitting position and flashed me a grin. "You're right, Rio. Thanks for reminding me." She looked back down at Yuma. "It's easy to forget sometimes."

I smiled back at her. But before we could exchange further words Yuma spun around, looking for us. He waved. "What are you guys doing up there? Come down here, things are really heating up!"

Kotori and I shared another smile before standing up and responding together. "Coming, Yuma!"

We stepped down the bleachers together, sharing one last look before taking our seats on the bottom bleachers again.

"Finish this, Tin Archduke!" Tetsuo-kun called. "Direct attack!"

Tokunosuke-kun swatted at the ball desperately, blanching just before it slammed into his chest. Tin Archduke simultaneously depleted the rest of his team's life points. On the other side of the net, Tetsuo-kun and Cat high-fived in victory.

I didn't miss Tetsuo-kun's quick glance towards me; he was obviously looking to see if I was impressed. I was fairly impressed by his dueling, but not in the way I knew he wanted me to be. I fought down the natural friendly smile that was rising. I knew he would misinterpret, and the last thing I wanted was to lead him on.

Yuma rose from his seat next to me and clapped his hands together suddenly. "Great duel, guys! Now –" He pointed up at the sun directly overhead. " – it's just about time for lunch!"

I grinned at his eagerness. So predictable.

Kotori rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "Geez, Yuma, is eating the only thing you're so punctual for?"

Yuma shrugged. "Not my fault my stomach's alarm clock is better than my bedroom's. The school cafeteria's closed, so where should we eat?"

"How about some sushi?" I ventured. The others looked at me, pondering, but Yuma didn't hesitate.

"Sushi it is!" He began leading the way off the school grounds, not even checking with the others first. I stared, and then followed him quickly.

"Hey!" Cat yelled from behind me. "Why does she get to choose?"

Yuma turned, walking backwards and shrugging. "'Cuz she's my partner." He winked at me quickly and I blushed. "I wouldn't usually do this, but we're competing, so every team for itself. You guys don't have to come, seeing as Rio and I can eat on our own just fine."

I felt my lips twitch involuntarily at the thought of us eating out together. It was practically a –

Footsteps quickly followed behind the two of us. I turned back to see the other seven following us.

Cat blushed. "It's not like I had anything against sushi. Just wondering was all."

I grunted and walked with the group silently, feeling thwarted. The nine of us walked a few blocks to a standard sushi bar. It was a modest, informal place, where sushi ran through the bar on a conveyor belt and customers were allowed to pick their dishes off as they desired.

Yuma licked his lips and rushed to the bar, his mouth watering. I giggled and followed his lead. I sat on Yuma's right while Kotori sat on his left. Ryouga plopped down on the seat next to mine. "Sushi, huh?" he muttered lowly to me. "Take it slow or next thing you know I'll be an uncle."

I kicked him in the shin, which didn't seem to stop his snickering. I decided to ignore him.

"Better get something fast before all the good stuff's gone, Rio." Yuma said from next to me.

"Yeah, I –" I turned only to see six clean dishes piled next to Yuma as he worked on his seventh. He responded to my shock with a raised eyebrow, and I realized I probably shouldn't be surprised.

I looked to the conveyor belt. Sushi of all colors and styles passed by in quick succession; it would be difficult making a decision. I'm usually not picky about food, but with all the choices I saw no harm in indulging my tastes this time.

I watched and waited for about a minute until I saw it. I don't know why it appealed to me - maybe the flamboyant blue and purple colors, maybe the contradictory texture of the filling and wrapping, maybe the handsome presentation. I did know, though, that I wanted a taste. I reached for it confidently.

"No way, little sis," Ryouga's voice boomed suddenly. His arm thrust forward and swatted mine aside roughly, latching onto my target plate.

"Hey – " I would have been indignant, but I felt something change on my hand. I looked in time to see my silver ring drop from my right little finger onto the conveyor belt. I stared in shock.

The clatter of the silver against the belt drew Ryouga's attention. Seeing my hand frozen in mid-air he put two and two together.

That ring was one of a pair; Ryouga wore the other one, and it was one of the most physical expressions of our bond. I got them for us when we visited a theme park when we were young. Then, when I'd asked him to wear one, he'd refused, and I'd thrown them away in anger. Ryouga had found and kept them with him, though, and he gave one back to me to wear before I left the hospital recently. To me, it was proof that no matter how cold or distant Ryouga could appear to be, he always cared.

Panic descended on me. I grasped for the ring wildly, but the moving belt quickly put it out of reach. A second later it disappeared behind a wall leading into the kitchen. I stood up quickly. "Ryouga, come and help me find it," I urged.

"Nah." Ryouga pushed the stolen sushi into his mouth, chewing slowly, taunting me.

I felt my blood boil. He knew what that ring meant to me! "Jerk." I muttered under my breath, rushing away to the kitchen quickly.

I thrust the doors to the kitchen open without a thought, not expecting the waves of heat and sound that rushed to meet me. The smell of a hundred different types of fish mixed with the crackling of several gallons of cooking oil and hijacked my senses. I blocked it all out as I saw the conveyor belt at the far end, staffed by a single worker.

"Have you seen a silver ring on this belt?" I made out in a single anxious breath.

He turned quickly, probably surprised a customer was back here. Then he shook his head slowly. I grunted and turned to the running belt, perusing it for my ring.

I couldn't lose it. It was too important.

I fumbled around on the belt, pushing plates around and feeling the surface, hoping to strike the metal of my ring. I gulped as the realization I might not find it set in. What if it –

I didn't realize my shoulders were trembling until two familiar hands grasped them firmly from behind. I didn't need to turn to recognize Yuma's touch. I didn't want to turn because I knew there were tears in my eyes, and I didn't want him to think me weak. I wasn't one for crying, and I knew it was childish, but the ring meant so much.

"I don't know why that ring is so important to you, Rio. But I know that it is, and so we're going to find it." Yuma took his hand off my shoulders and took to searching. I sighed in relief. Yuma helping put me at ease.

I resumed my search of the belt, but found nothing. Luckily the way the restaurant worked was that finished plates remained with the customers, so the bill could be charged based on the number and types of finished plates each customer had. That meant the belt didn't have an outlet for trash, which in turn meant the ring should still be on it. Unless...

I paled.

"Yuma!" I called anxiously. "If the ring fell on a plate, anyone could pick it up! Could you make sure -"

"I'm on it." He understood before I even finished and rushed out.

I breathed in and out deeply. It had to be around here somewhere.

"Rio!" Came a yell from the restaurant. I recognized Yuma's voice immediately. I rushed out of the kitchen to see him standing in front of a young couple's table, holding out my silver ring.

My eyes glossed with tears. It was stupid to be crying after I knew everything was fine, but I was just so relieved.

Yuma held his hand out farther. "You were right about it falling on a plate. Luckily, these two found it before they ate it." He smirked, and I smiled at him. When I moved to thank the young couple, I saw that they were rather flustered.

"Thanks so much," I said slowly. "Is anything the matter?"

The woman blushed further and turned her face away. The man ran a hand through his hair. "You're welcome, it's uh - it's just, the ring fell on my girlfriend's plate, and she - she uh, thought I was… proposing to her..."

I felt my face burn. If this cost them their relationship -

"Do you want to?" Yuma piped up suddenly.

I stared at him in shock. The man had a similar reaction. "I'm sorry?"

"Do you want to propose to her?" Yuma repeated emphatically. "No point beating around the bush. Both of you seem embarrassed by what happened, but you don't look unhappy. It looks to me like..." Yuma trailed off, leaving the rest to the couple.

The two stared at one another. The man reached across and held the woman's hand. She turned even redder, but now turned to face him. Something passed between their eyes, and the man smiled. "I think I do, kid. Thanks for pointing it out."

Yuma grinned and beat his chest. "All in a day's work."

The couple laughed. The woman spoke for the first time. "Well, I may not be getting the ring, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see it in action. Go ahead, ask her."

I stared blankly at her. What did she…?

I paled. She thought Yuma… was asking me…

Yuma blinked. "Ask her what? The ring is hers."

The couple's eyes lit up. The woman clasped her hands happily. "So she's already said 'yes'? Put the ring on her, then!"

I stood frozen as Yuma shrugged and took my right hand in his left gently. He then delicately slipped the silver ring onto my pinky until it was secure at the base.

I stared.

The couple began clapping loudly, bringing attention to us. Before long, the clapping proliferated through the entire restaurant, punctuated by wolf whistles and well wishes.

Too stunned for words, I turned my head towards the rest of the gang seated at the sushi bar. Astonishment and bewilderment were plastered across their faces. I noticed Ryouga with an eyebrow arched acutely. Tetsuo-kun with his mouth open, food nearly falling out. Cat also with her mouth open, but with her teeth bared. Kotori blushing madly, her chopsticks at the point of snapping in her hands.

I looked back at Yuma, who was bewildered by all the attention but not unpleased. He waved to the crowd, soaking up their response.

I gulped.

Did I just get… engaged?

* * *

Author's Note

Apologies for the extended delay.

A small request: guest reviews are always appreciated, but could individuals submitting multiple guest reviews keep their 'name' consistent between reviews? The recent guest reviews have been persistent and encouraging, and it would just be nice to keep track of who's responsible for which ones in some capacity. Thanks.

Next Update: 06/13/14, by 11:00 PM UTC


	4. Chapter 4

I continued to stare at the silver ring on my right pinky. I obviously was not engaged (right?), but it still stirred butterflies in my stomach that Yuma had slipped it on just a few minutes ago.

After the scene we'd made in the restaurant, we finished eating quickly and left. It was quick because there'd been no conversation between any of us after the incident.

Not a word.

There was tension very apparent between Kotori, Cat, and me, and Tetsuo-kun was being rather icy towards Yuma. Even Tokunosuke-kun, Takashi-kun, and Shingetsu-kun were picking up on it, falling behind the rest of us in apprehension as we all walked back to the school grounds.

Ryouga was making a point of looking between Yuma and me and smirking occasionally.

When we finally reached the grounds, Shingetsu-kun clapped his hands together nervously, trying to recover the mood from before lunch.

"Alright, everyone, now we're going to have –"

"Yuma, duel me!" Tetsuo-kun interjected, obviously having had the thought on his mind for a while.

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. We were in the middle of a tournament. No way was –

"I accept!" Yuma exclaimed quickly, pulling his Duel Gazer out already.

I facepalmed. Who was I kidding, this was Yuma we were talking about.

Shingetsu-kun put his hands up, obviously trying to restore order. "Uh, wait up guys, we're still in the middle of –"

"Before I let you have Rio, I'm going to make sure you're man enough. We're dueling, Yuma."

I felt my face burn at Ryouga's words. "Hey –"

"You want in on this, too, Shark?" Yuma asked excitedly, completely ignoring the stated reason for Ryouga's challenge. "It'll be a Battle Royal with three, then!"

I growled lowly. No way was Ryouga going to duel Yuma as some kind of test of manliness with me in mind. I was going to make sure that didn't happen.

"Make that four!" I pulled my Duel Gazer out, ready to go. Ryouga smirked at me; I stuck my tongue out at him.

"If she's in the Duel, so am I!" Cat called suddenly, readying her Duel Disk.

"Don't forget me!" Kotori chimed in, glancing sidelong at me. I smiled tightly. This wasn't going to be easy.

To the side, Shingetsu-kun, Tokunosuke-kun, and Takashi-kun were stepping away dejectedly.

"No way am I involving myself in that," Shingetsu-kun muttered.

"This is the flip-side of friendship," Tokunosuke-kun followed.

"To summarize, this is a mess that we'd best sit out," Takashi-kun finished.

I sweatdropped.

Tetsuo-kun was frowning at how things had turned out. "A 6-way Battle Royal? I wanted a one-on-one with Yuma!"

Yuma, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "The more, the merrier! Everyone ready?" Tetsuo-kun set his jaw as he realized this was the best he was going to get.

I took a breath and walked to my spot around the circle we formed for the Duel. Everyone's faces were set, focused on their respective goals.

I squinted across the circle at Ryouga and then looked sidelong at Yuma. For me, the goal was to protect Yuma from Ryouga's attacks and ultimately take my idiot brother out as fast as possible. I felt two pairs of eyes on me and saw Cat and Kotori staring me down.

Looks like I would have some defending to do, too.

"Here we go!" Yuma yelled.

"Duel!" We all shouted in unison.

Everyone drew five cards.

Tetsuo-kun: 4000 LP

Yuma: 4000 LP

Ryouga: 4000 LP

Me: 4000 LP

Cat: 4000 LP

Kotori: 4000 LP

"I'm starting off!" Tetsuo-kun announced, drawing a card quickly. I saw his eyes flash between Yuma and me quickly and then back to his hand.

I grimaced. Hopefully this duel would somehow let him down easy.

"I'm summoning Tin Goldfish in Attack Mode!" A red, scaly mechanical fish appeared in front of him, sporting 800 Attack Points. That didn't look too bad.

Tetsuo-kun smirked. "Thanks to its effect, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from my hand! I summon another Tin Goldfish!"

Scratch that… Two Level 4 monsters, I knew what was coming next.

"I overlay the two Level 4 Tin Goldfish to build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Show 'em who's boss, Tin Archduke!"

A mechanical French-looking soldier with 2200 ATK appeared on the field, raring to go. Tetsuo-kun looked straight across at Yuma. "In a Battle Royal, nobody can attack on the first turn, so I'm ending mine here."

Yuma didn't seem to pick up on the sparks Tetsuo-kun was shooting his way. "Awesome! Your monster's sure looking strong!"

I felt my eyebrow twitch involuntarily. He really was dense as a brick.

"Anyway, it's my turn now! Kattobingu da, ore!" Yuma yelled, drawing a card. His eyes flew over his hand and he smiled quickly. "I summon Bull Blader to the field, in Attack Mode! I place one card facedown and end my turn!"

Yuma's smile told me that his strategy was deeper than what was on his field. I wondered absently what he had in store.

"Pathetic," Ryouga started. I sweatdropped. Yuma couldn't even attack this turn, so he really had no basis on which to judge his move. But Ryouga looked fairly smug with himself. "Let me show you how a real Duelist plays!"

Yuma narrowed his eyes and snorted.

"I draw! I summon Starfish in Attack Position, place one card facedown, and end my turn!" Ryouga smirked and looked at Yuma. "Try that on for size."

I felt my eyebrow twitch again. He literally did the exact same thing Yuma did only he summoned a weaker monster, how could he think it was better?

But Yuma nodded appreciatively. "You got me on that one, not bad, Shark."

I facepalmed. Why were all the men in my life idiots?

"Stop hitting yourself and make your move, little sis," Ryouga drawled.

I took a deep breath and kept myself from retorting. "I draw!" Hmm… I decided to play conservative for the time being. "I summon Aurora Wing in Defense Mode! I'll place three cards facedown and end my turn."

My D-Pad suddenly beeped and I looked down to see a text message. That was rare, people usually video called these days. I opened the message.

_From: Cat_

I raised an eyebrow, looking across the field at the girl. She was looking back at me, licking her paw – well no, it was technically her hand, mischievously. I squinted at her and looked down at the message.

_To: Rio-san and Kotori_

_If this is to see which of us gets Yuma, the three of us should team up and focus on taking out Tetsuo-kun and Shark first._

Before I could respond another message popped up; I opened it immediately.

_From: Kotori_

I looked up to see Kotori's face dusted a light red and I smiled, opening the message. Kotori was cute when she was flustered. And if she was flustered, this message was most certainly about Yuma.

_To: Rio and Cat_

_Deal. Yuma will probably go for Tetsuo-kun and Shark as well on instinct, so we won't have to worry about offensives from him. You in, Rio?_

I grinned at the fact that Kotori was now so naturally dropping the honorific she usually used. I hit the 'Reply All' button and wrote my message.

_From: Rio_

_To: Kotori and Cat_

_You bet I am._

Across the field, Cat was drawing her card as her turn started. Her D-Pad and Kotori's beeped simultaneously. They opened the message immediately.

Kotori smiled. Cat licked her lips and… well, purred.

"My move!" Cat yelled confidently. "I summon Stray Cat in Attack Mode!" I raised a brow as the 100 ATK feline took the field. "I use its special ability to summon another Stray Cat from my hand! I place one card facedown and end my turn!"

Kotori didn't waste a moment. "I draw!" She looked over her cards and pondered a bit. It was to be expected, seeing as she was a much less experienced Duelist.

"Alright, I summon Faith Bird in Attack Mode! I'll also place one card facedown and end my turn!" Kotori nodded slightly in self-approval, happy with her move.

I looked around at the mess of monsters and facedown cards that were on the field now that everyone had taken one turn. I sighed. A six-way Battle Royal was definitely not one of Yuma's best ideas.

"Looks like it's back to me." Tetsuo-kun drew a card and then thought for a second, looking around the field.

The problem was that every offensive move could set off a huge chain reaction and have implications for the rest of the duel. For example, if you attacked a certain person and that person countered with a move that cleared your field, all you'd have would be facedown cards to weather the next five turns of possible attacks before you had a chance to summon anything again. The best idea was probably to forgo Main Phase 1, attack, let things play out, and then use Main Phase 2 to set your field up as best as possible to make it through the coming turns before you had a chance again.

Tetsuo-kun, however, seemed to be in a hurry to take Yuma down. "I'll start by summoning Aye-Iron, in Attack Mode." A mechanical kangaroo with 1600 ATK took the field. Tetsuo-kun's eyes settled on Yuma. My body tightened. "Battle Phase! Tin Archduke, attack Yuma's Bull Blader!"

The tin soldier raised his sword and flew across the field towards Yuma's warrior. I knew Yuma had facedown cards, and I saw him begin to open his mouth to activate one, but my body was already acting on reflex. My mouth was halfway open and my finger was already on the button activating my facedown card.

"I –" I was cut off as my D-Pad buzzed. I looked down quickly to see that I couldn't activate my card at this timing. That didn't make sense. These were the correct conditions to activate my card, so the only other reason it wouldn't work would be… My eyes snapped up.

If someone beat me on the timing.

"I activate my Trap!" I laughed inwardly as Kotori yelled frantically. She would beat me to backing Yuma up. I watched as she continued. "It's called Icarus Attack! By tributing 1 Winged Beast-Type monster, I can target 2 cards on the field and destroy them!"

Tetsuo-kun's face paled. Kotori took a deep breath and pointed at his field. "I'm tributing my Faith Bird in order to destroy your Tin Archduke and Aye-Iron!"

"No!" Tetsuo-kun watched as his monsters were blown to pieces by the effect of Kotori's card.

Yuma whooped in triumph. "Thanks a lot, Kotori!"

Kotori blushed. "Y-You're welcome, Yuma! ...Uh, sorry, Tetsuo-kun."

Tetsuo-kun grunted, upset at the setback but not angry at Kotori. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Hmm… Having used his first Main Phase to Normal Summon, he couldn't bring out any more monsters. As for the facedown card… I looked up at Tetsuo-kun to see his eyes darting around nervously. Judging by his play style, his Magic and Trap cards probably relied on strengthening or at least targeting monsters on his own field. Add that to his body language, and his facedown card was most likely a bluff.

I kept that in the back of my mind and also made note of the fact that Kotori's field was wide open. She didn't look too nervous about it though, which I could understand. Cat and I had made a temporary pact to work together with her so she didn't have to worry about the two of us. Tetsuo-kun was wrapped up with Yuma, and Yuma was most probably too wrapped up with Tetsuo-kun and Shark to go out of his way to attack Kotori.

The only person who might've attacked Kotori under any other circumstances would be my idiot opportunistic brother, but Yuma was probably keeping enough of his attention to prevent that. So for the moment, even with a completely open field, Kotori was probably still safe.

"It's my turn!" Yuma drew his card excitedly. "I summon Gagaga Gardna, in Attack Mode!"

I braced myself. Gagaga Gardna's special summoning ability was too valuable for Yuma to waste unless he was going to use the monster for something big now. Sure enough, Yuma grinned widely, sliding his two monster cards atop one another on his Duel Disk.

"I overlay the level 4 Bull Blader and Gagaga Gardna! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Heroic Champion – Excalibur!"

I winced as I realized immediately what Yuma was about to do. Tetsuo-kun stared at the summoned monster and its Overlay Units for a second before paling, realizing it as well.

"Wait, Yuma, uhh… Let's talk about this?"

"Sorry bud, can't pull punches in a Duel! I use Heroic Champion – Excalibur's two Overlay Units in order to double its Attack Points to 4000!"

Tetsuo-kun gulped and took a step back, suddenly hyperaware of his completely empty field; guess that meant his facedown really was a bluff.

"Heroic Champion – Excalibur, attack Tetsuo directly! One-Sword Style Strike: Finishing Attack of True Sword!"

The monster swung its huge sword at Tetsuo-kun, depleting his Life Points in one go and throwing him to the ground.

Tetsuo-kun: 0 LP (Out)

Yuma helped him up and gleefully said they had a good Duel. I could see that Tetsuo-kun clearly felt embarrassed that he was the first one out after initiating the whole thing, but he shook Yuma's hand and sat to the side without raising a fuss.

"And with that, I'll place another card facedown and end my turn," Yuma finished.

"You bet you end your turn," Ryouga shot back unnecessarily. "My draw!"

I braced myself for my brother's worst.

"I summon another Starfish, in Attack Mode!" Great. Didn't take a genius to see where this was going. "I overlay the two level 3 Starfish to build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Show Yuma who's superior, Black Ray Lancer!"

Black Ray Lancer materialized, sporting 2100 ATK. I narrowed my eyes. By Ryouga's words, it was clear he was aiming for Yuma. But I knew that Heroic Champion – Excalibur's doubled ATK effect lasted until the end of his opponent's turn. Since in a Battle Royal everyone was everyone else's opponent, Excalibur still had its 4000 ATK. So my brother would likely –

"I activate Black Ray Lancer's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I target Heroic Champion – Excalibur and negate its effect! You know what that means, right, Yuma?"

Like I thought. Yuma gritted his teeth as Excalibur's ATK dropped to 2000.

"Well, let me show you," Ryouga taunted. "Black Ray Lancer, attack Heroic Champion – Excaibur!"

This time, I didn't even have time to consider intervening before Yuma did it himself. "I activate my facedown, Overlay Buster! Excalibur gains 500 ATK, and when he destroys Black Ray Lancer you take 500 points of damage in addition to battle damage!"

Ryouga clicked his tongue in annoyance as Black Ray Lancer was smote by Excalibur's sword and sent to the graveyard.

Ryouga: 3600 LP

"I activate my facedown card, Xyz Reborn! I'm bringing Black Ray Lancer back from the graveyard and equipping this card as an Overlay Unit. With that, I place one card facedown and end my turn," Ryouga drawled, as if he was bored as long as he wasn't attacking Yuma. With the end of Ryouga's turn, Excalibur's ATK returned to 4000.

"My turn!" I called, drawing. I blinked, looking at my hand and smirking. Oh, this was going to be good. "I summon Blizzard Falcon to the field!" Good, two monsters was plenty. "Then from my hand, I activate Enemy Controller! By Tributing the Aurora Wing on my field, I can take control of one face-up monster on the field. I'll be taking your Black Ray Lancer, Ryouga."

Ryouga scoffed. "As if. I activate my facedown, Fairy's Hand Mirror."

I sighed. I was hoping I could get Black Ray Lancer and coordinate an attack with Blizzard Falcon…. 2100 + 1500 ATK for a perfect 3600 damage that would wipe Ryouga out. But obviously it wouldn't be that easy. Ryouga would likely use Fairy's Hand Mirror to redirect the effect of Enemy Controller to Cat's 100 ATK Stray Cat, which wouldn't help me at all.

"I use the effect of Fairy's Hand Mirror to redirect your Enemy Controller to Yuma's Heroic Champion – Excalibur!" Ryouga barked.

I blinked as Excalibur appeared on my field. Why would he give me a monster with 4000 ATK when his own Black Ray Lancer only had 2100 ATK?

That's when I saw it. Oh, that snake brother of mine. He was an opportunist. By giving me Yuma's 4000 ATK monster, he'd completely cleared Yuma's field while also giving me the means to wipe out Yuma or Kotori outright, which would benefit him. In the off chance I didn't go for those easy options, Ryouga reasoned that I would at least do serious damage to Cat, and if I didn't do all of that purely to spite him, he thought I would attack him, thinking a 4000 versus 2100 matchup would be enticing.

At which point he'd activate Black Ray Lancer's effect and cut Excalibur's ATK to 2000, destroying Yuma's monster and chipping away at my life points.

What, did he think I was stupid?

But what could I do… I blinked, suddenly laying eyes on Yuma's remaining facedown. It was against the odds, but my gut was telling me my hunch was right. "Hey, Yuma, mind if I make use of Excalibur for a while?" I smirked at him knowingly.

Yuma had been looking between Excalibur's 4000 ATK and his own empty field nervously, but as soon as he saw my smirk he calmed down, understanding at the very least I wasn't going to attack him.

"Go for it, Rio!" he shouted back, and I grinned. Ryouga narrowed his eyes.

Well, this was risky, but if it worked it would pay off well.

"Heroic Champion – Excalibur, attack Black Ray Lancer!" Ryouga's eyes narrowed further. He probably was wondering whether or not I'd read his scheme. In any case, he reacted as expected.

"Poor choice, little sis! I detach Black Ray Lancer's Overlay Unit to activate its special ability, cutting Excalibur's ATK down to 2000!"

Here went nothing. I put on my best poker face and moved my hand toward my Duel Disk quickly. I watched Ryouga out of the corner of my eye as Excalibur continued to approach Black Ray Lancer and its destruction.

Ryouga's eyes widened slightly.

The thing about Ryouga was that he always thought he was thinking ahead of me, like there was no way I could ever do anything he didn't foresee. So whenever it looked like I knew something he didn't, he assumed it was because of something he'd overlooked, not necessarily something I just happened to know myself. In this case, he would hopefully look at my three facedowns and assume he missed a big trap of mine.

Come on, Ryouga, bite.

Ryouga furrowed his brow, grunting just as my hand was about to reach a button on my Duel Disk that would activate a useless facedown. "I activate my facedown, Depth Amulet! I discard one card rom my hand to negate Excalibur's attack!"

The other four dueling looked on in confusion as the entire psychological battle between Ryouga and me went under the radar; to them it looked like Ryouga had negated a battle that'd been clearly in his favor.

I must've been smirking, because Ryouga cursed under his breath, looking at me venomously as he realized my bluff. "You sneaky little liar."

I shrugged. "Never even said anything."

"It's not like it matters –"

Ryouga was cut off by Yuma, who was activating his facedown card. I cheered as my hunch turned out to be correct – looked like I was getting to know Yuma pretty well – and Ryouga turned ashen as he realized what was happening.

"I activate my facedown, Double or Nothing! I'm targeting my – well, Rio's," Yuma grinned at me and I gave him a playful thumbs up, "Heroic Champion – Excalibur, which doubles its ATK and lets it attack again."

I made a face at Ryouga. "You heard the man."

Ryouga gritted his teeth as Excalibur took down Black Ray Lancer with ease. I followed up with a direct attack with Blizzard Falcon, hoping to rub salt in the wound.

Ryouga: 200 LP

"I could finish you off, but I guess I'll end my turn there," I shrugged. Excalibur returned to Yuma's field with 4000 ATK, and Ryouga growled lowly, opening his mouth to retort.

"Go to town, kitties," Cat cut him off, ordering her Stray Cats to attack as soon as she drew her card.

Ryouga's jaw dropped as Cat's two Stray Cats, each 100 ATK, made their way over and lifted their legs to urinate all over his legs. Yuma snickered lowly and I giggled as Ryouga's face seemed to go blank, his pride shattered.

Ryouga: 0 LP (Out)

Yuma tried to cheer Ryouga up with some encouragement, but my brother walked away without saying anything. I knew he wasn't seriously mentally damaged, so it was pretty funny.

"And I'll summon Stray Cat Girl to my field in Attack Mode," Cat drawled, now looking between Kotori and me, "before finishing with this. Swords of Revealing Light!"

The three large light swords came down around Yuma, boxing him in and preventing him from attacking. Yuma looked indignant. "Hey, that's no fun!"

"Sorry, Yuma," Cat said apologetically, "but we have something to sort out." Again, Cat's gaze moved between Kotori and me. "I end my turn."

Yuma quieted, not understanding, but I did. This was as promised. We'd taken down Tetsuo-kun and Ryouga, leaving just the three of us girls and Yuma. Now us girls would have a showdown, to see 'which of us gets Yuma', in Cat's words. I knew it wasn't that simple practically, but right now that wasn't really foremost in my mind. Cat's Swords of Revealing Light would keep Yuma out of the fray, preventing him from intervening for a while as we duked it out.

I cracked my neck side to side and bent my knees as Kotori drew, beginning her turn. Things were about to get intense. By the looks in Kotori and Cat's eyes, they wouldn't go down without a fight.

I looked sidelong at Yuma. But then again, neither would I.

"Hey, girls."

Cat looked at me and Kotori looked up from her cards. I smirked, feeling more pumped up than ever.

"Bring it on."

* * *

Author's Note

Overshot the update date a little there, huh? Thirteen months over... Well, I don't know whether there are still people following this story, but some have expressed interest during the hiatus, and for that I'm grateful. At least for those people I'd like to continue this story to some degree; it won't be the focus of my time, and I can't promise update dates, but I'll do my best to do what I can, and if anyone has ideas for it or feedback to give, I'd be grateful. Thank you to everyone who's been with this story at any point, and I hope you still find it enjoyable!


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